Mintwood

Future Tenant to Host Ambitious Exhibit by Local Artist Collective

A group of young, alternative artists living in a house on Mintwood Avenue in Lawrenceville. It sounds a bit like a surreal, countercultural version of MTV’s The Real World, but it’s actually an artist collective that will be featured at Future Tenant throughout October. Their exhibit, which is appropriately titled mintwood, will use dramatic lighting installations, video projections and auditory stimulation to capture the group’s experience of living and playing as artists in Pittsburgh.

From Friday, October 8 through Saturday, October 30, the art space, located at 801 Liberty Avenue in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, will host the Mintwood. The highlight of the exhibit will be a recreation of the group's house rooftop, boasting a breathtaking "view" of the Pittsburgh skyline. Gallery visitors will be invited to step out on the roof and experience the city from a fresh perspective.

According to the Mintwood gang, they are "more potluck than manifesto." The house in which they live and work is a multipurpose facility -- it’s a studio, a game parlor, a gourmet kitchen, an office and a bedroom. The artists emphasize that the mintwood show is not just what they do, individually and collaboratively -- "it’s also a bit of who (they) are and how (they) function."

On Saturday, October 30, the Mintwood and Future Tenant will host a homebrewed beer and soda competition at the gallery. The event is meant is to encourage brewers to brew quality beers without a lot of concern for style guidelines. Instead, brewers will define their own parameters by submitting a letter of intent describing the brew qualities. Just as other competitions reward brewers who produce a good, balanced beer according to predetermined style guidelines, the Mintwood Collective wants to reward brewers who can create a quality product according to the desires of their own palates. Judging will begin at Noon.

Future Tenant’s weekly hours of operation for mintwood are Tuesday through Saturday, 12 to 8 PM. From 6 to 9 PM on Friday, October 8, Future Tenant will host an opening reception featuring a myriad of eclectic treats, refreshing Mintwood homebrew and an opportunity to meet some of the artists. Starting at 7 PM, opening night visitors will be entertained by Live Musical Animation/Video Performances by ROTFLOL, Black Moth Super Rainbow and Slow-Dance Clarynet Recytal.

From 6 to 9 PM on October 30, Future Tenant will host the mintwood closing reception featuring Halloween party musical performances by John Brodsky and Alberto Almarza of Handface and Hooliganship, and an improvisational rap performance by Noel Hefele and Adam Grossi.

Other Events Coinciding with mintwood:

At 2 PM on Saturday, October 9, the artists will hold a panel discussion at Future Tenant about the exhibit and their individual contributions.

From 5:30 to 8 PM on Friday, October 15, Aeolian Winds of Pittsburgh will perform at Future Tenant during the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Gallery Crawl.

On Wednesday, October 20, at 7:30 PM, Davy and Peter Rothbart, two of the creators of Found Magazine, which features interesting found items like love letters, photographs, birthday cards and ticket stubs, will throw a Found Party at the gallery. Davy will share his favorite finds of all time, while Peter bangs out new tunes based on Found notes. Audience members are encouraged to bring their own finds to share with the Rothbarts.

Future Tenant, located in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, is a project of Carnegie Mellon University’s Institute for the Management of Creative Enterprise and The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The art space, which features alternative exhibitions and performances by emerging artists from the Carnegie Mellon University community and beyond, is managed by a team of students from the Master of Arts Management program, a joint program of Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Fine Arts and the H. John Heinz, III School of Public Policy and Management.